Mobile communications have advanced markedly from its earliest beginnings of providing users with a means of voice communication wirelessly from any location within range of a base station. This has developed into being able to provide mobile connectivity for voice and data to any suitable mobile device, including mobile phones, PDAs and PCs with a suitable connectivity card. Mobile services can be provided on various networks, including GSM, UMTS, HSxPA, WiMaX and the currently under-development LTE/SAE (Long Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution) network.
The third generation partnership project (3GPP) has additionally defined a new concept for transporting voice, data and other telecommunication services, known as IMS (IP-based Multimedia Subsystem). The IMS is a set of core network servers sitting behind the GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) in the packet switched domain. With IMS, users are no longer restricted to a separate voice call or data session. Sessions can be established between devices that allow a variety of communication types to be used and media to be exchanged. For example, the IMS architecture can support voice, video, instant messaging, “presence” (a user's availability for contact), location-based services, email and internet access. Further communication types are likely to be added in the future.
This increase in service availability with improved network configurations has also corresponded to an increase in bandwidth availability, but bandwidth is of course not limitless. Therefore, techniques need to be in place to ensure that users do not unduly abuse the bandwidth available to them, and in this regard a fair usage policy is generally implemented. This has particularly become an issue with the rapid adoption of flat rate data tariffs, making data traffic management and control an important requirement for network operators.
Under fair usage policies, a user's bandwidth usage is monitored, and if it is found to be excessive over a period of time, particularly to the point of impacting other users, then the user's bandwidth availability/speed will be throttled/restricted. For instance, a transfer rate of 60 GB per month might currently be considered to be excessive for a user on a “light” data usage tariff.
Therefore, there needs to be a mechanism for being able to monitor a user's data consumption rate and control their usage, preferably in near real time.
The ability to monitor a user's data consumption rate in near real time is also useful from a user point of view, in being able to provide a mechanism to prevent “bill shock”. More specifically, the improved access to a multitude of wireless services and the ability to download larger amounts of data over telecommunications networks, also results in the possibility of unexpectedly high bills being tallied up. This is particularly the case where users seek to download data whilst not in their home network (e.g. whilst roaming), or where they are not on unlimited usage packages.
The ability to do so in near real time, would allow a degree of control to be applied to problematic users, or users about to place themselves in problematic situations, which can be applied immediately once an unacceptable event/threshold is met or about to be met, thereby preventing or at least minimising any adverse consequences.